EU neighbouring countries: the Western Balkans
- Categories
- Article/Artikel
- Magazine Title
- Globalizacija.com: Journal for political theory and research on globalization, development and gender issues
- Magazine Year
- 2005
- Creator
- Kuzmanovic, Tatjana Djuric
- Creator
- Sad, Novi
- Creator
- Dokmanovic, Mirjana
- Thesaurus
- economie, arbeid, recht, sociale zekerheid, empowerment, gelijke behandeling, Albanië, Bosnië en Herzegovina, Macedonië, Servië, Montenegro, EU (eng)
- Description
- The countries of the region, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic (FRY) of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro belong to the least developed countries in Europe. These Western Balkan countries are also progressing towards EU membership. Most of the experiences of moving from a communist/socialist regime and state-led economies to free market economies have been negative. Women have absorbed the shock of the adjustment by intensifying their unpaid work necessary because of budget cuts in basic public services. The economic and social status of women is declining. The harmonisation of domestic legislation with EU legislation has been beneficial for women, as it has meant adopting and developing laws, legal measures and mechanisms for protecting women’s rights and empowering women. As part of the EU membership process, all the governments in the region have started to develop and set up national machineries for advancement of women and adopt laws on equal opportunities of both sexes.